Cranberry Sweet And Sour Slow Cooker Meatballs cook themselves in your slow cooker. Store bought frozen meatballs simmer in your crockpot with just 4 more ingredients for a deliciously saucy appetizer or main dish recipe!
Looking for a fast, impressive and super easy appetizer that cooks itself? Our sweet and sour meatballs with cranberry sauce are your answer!
Jump to:
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Our slow cooker meatballs are the perfect appetizer for the holidays, game day gatherings and movie night too!
Just 5 ingredients combine in your slow cooker making a delicious and saucy appetizer.
So easy, and fabulously delicious, you'll be making crockpot meatballs for every occasion.
Frozen meatballs in the crockpot make this recipe an easy meatball recipe to put together.
Made with kitchen pantry ingredients, you can always have ingredients on hand for a last minute appetizer.
The cranberry flavor makes them especially perfect for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.
Simply put frozen meatballs in your crockpot, top with just a few ingredients and let the magic begin!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Those slow cooker sweet and sour meatballs cook themselves into deliciousness.
You'll end up with amazingly saucy sweet meatballs, that are also tangy, that your guests will go crazy over! Bet you can't just eat one! I know I can't!
Prefer to use homemade meatballs? No worries!
Feel free to use my homemade ground beef meatball recipe or my baked meatballs recipe recipe if you have the time and love that homemade touch.
For best results, I recommend browning the meatballs in a skillet before adding them to your slow cooker.
A chopped parsley garnish is optional and gives this recipe a pretty finishing touch. Chopped cilantro makes a delicious topping also!
When served as an appetizer recipe our ground beef meatball recipe will make 16 servings, 4 meatballs per person.
If you want to serve it as a main dish over pasta or rice or with mashed potatoes, you can get 8 main dish servings from this recipe.
Be sure to visit the Swirls of Flavor Amazon Storefront for GG's kitchen recommendations!
Hungry for more? Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter for my latest recipes.
Use code SAVE25 for 25% off the purchase of my Easy Slow Cooker Recipes for Beginners eBook with 21 easy recipes including tips for cooking with a crockpot!
How to make crockpot meatballs
Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below
- Place frozen meatballs in slow cooker.
- In a bowl combine cranberry sauce, sweet & sour dipping sauce, dried cranberries and Balsamic vinegar. Stir until blended. Pour over meatballs.
- Cook 4 hours on low.
- Set your crockpot on the warm setting and serve meatballs in the crockpot or transfer to a serving dish.
- Sprinkle with parsley.
Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips
- Make these meatballs a main dish and serve with pasta, rice or mashed potatoes
- Make this recipe with jellied cranberry sauce
Substitutions
- Add golden raisins or dark raisins in place of the dried cranberries
- Substitute chopped dried apricots for the dried cranberries
- Top with cilantro in place of parsley
- You can use jellied cranberry sauce in place of the whole berry cranberry sauce
- You can make homemade meatballs if you don't want to use frozen meatballs
Equipment
Can a slow cooker recipe be cooked in an instant pot?
The answer is yes. To cook this recipe in an instant pot:
- Place ingredients in an instant pot as directed in the recipe and set to slow cooker setting.
- For slow cooker low, cook on normal setting 3-4 hours.
- For slow cooker high, cook on high setting 1-2 hours, adding an extra 15 minutes for each hour.
ALWAYS CHECK YOUR INSTANT POT'S USER MANUAL FOR INSTRUCTIONS AS INSTRUCTIONS FOR SLOW COOKING MAY VARY WITH INSTANT POT MODELS AND MANUFACTURERS.
Meatball Recipes
- Ground Chicken Meatballs
- Spaghetti and meatballs
- Sweet and sour meatballs
- Meatballs Parmesan
- Air Fryer Turkey Meatball Recipe from Dizzy Busy and Hungry
Ingredients
Ingredients for slow cooker meatballs:
- frozen cocktail-size meatballs
- whole berry cranberry sauce
- sweet & sour dipping sauce
- dried cranberries
- Balsamic vinegar
- chopped parsley
Easy Appetizer Recipes
With the holidays quickly approaching, you can never have too many appetizer recipes in your back pocket for your festive entertaining.
Our Holiday Cheese Board will be the center piece of your table with it’s unexpected Balsamic Roasted Grapes and Buttery Spiced Pecans! So easy to assemble, our Holiday Cheese Board is an impressive appetizer or even a dessert when it’s filled with assorted cheeses, ciabatta bread, mixed olives, roasted grapes and spiced pecans!
Oven-Baked Ravioli Bites With Balsamic Dipping Sauce is an easy recipe for a crowd-pleasing appetizer! Why deep fry in oil when you can bake in the oven and have your ravioli bites be so much healthier and even more delicious? Add a Balsamic Dipping Sauce and these ravioli bites will be the star of any party!
You’ll impress your guests with this blueberry recipe with a delicious flavor combination. Balsamic Blueberry Mascarpone Crostini Recipe is a quick and easy appetizer recipe. Perfect for last minute entertaining, crispy toasts are topped with a sweet and tangy mascarpone cheese, a blueberry compote with hints of balsamic vinegar and fresh basil.
Bacon Mac and Cheese Bites is an easy recipe for a last minute holiday appetizer. With just three ingredients you can have this bite of cheesy goodness in just minutes! Bacon with macaroni and cheese is a perfect combination of two comfort foods for a holiday recipe that everyone will love!
Did you know that you can have your spaghetti and meatballs and eat your pizza too with Deep Dish Spaghetti & Meatball Pizza? Cut in bite size pieces for a delicious party appetizer or serve as a main dish. Either way, kids (big and little) will love this pizza for sure!
Meat Lovers’ Pizza Bread is brimming with seasoned saucy ground beef, spicy pepperoni and three cheeses. A hearty appetizer, our Pizza Bread is a crowd-pleasing easy recipe to make. A perfect pizza recipe for game day, entertaining and the holidays!
Cranberry Sweet And Sour Slow Cooker Meatballs Recipe
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package (32 ounces) frozen fully cooked Italian-style cocktail-size meatballs
- 1 can (14 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce , or jellied cranberry sauce
- 3/4 cup sweet & sour dipping sauce , such as Kikkoman
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 Tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
- Place frozen meatballs in slow cooker.
- In bowl combine cranberry sauce, sweet & sour dipping sauce, dried cranberries and Balsamic vinegar. Whisk or stir until blended. Pour over meatballs.
- Cook 4 hours on low.
- Set your crockpot on the warm setting and serve meatballs in the crockpot or transfer to a serving dish.
- Sprinkle with parsley.
Notes
- Make these meatballs a main dish and serve with pasta, rice or mashed potatoes
- Make with jellied cranberry sauce
- Add golden raisins or dark raisins in place of the dried cranberries
- Substitute chopped dried apricots for the dried cranberries
- Top with cilantro in place of parsley
Nutrition
I will try your recipe for super bowl.
I make mine with the cranberry sauce and chile sauce I like the Heinz best but will use store brand if the heinz is'nt in stock. ( 12 oz )
Sounds good!
That sounds like a nice combo! Sweet and sour and cranberry? That’s cool and yummy!
Wow! This is such an awesome meatball dish! It looks amazingly delicious and very tasty! I love the sticky sauce makes this meatball dish enticing!